Backyard

A thousand words couldn’t properly articulate how much we love living here. We celebrated our 5th “homeiversary” in June, and just wrapped our 6th summer in this lovely place. This year, I attempted to replicate a few of my favorite […]

Always committing to doing the things I say I'm going to do–in this case "barn quilt all the things"–I extended my collaboration with Buffalo-based designer Whitney Crispell of Local Color Quilts and made another totally …

This post was sponsored by STIHL because they supplied the chainsaw and safety equipment. However, the project is my own and Swedish cut fire logs really are things we make and use at home. I figured …

Elaborate landscaping and flowering gardens exist in our dreams; not so much in reality. Container gardens are my domain for now, and between herbs and potatoes and flowering front porch planters, we kind of rocked it …

Ready to make some raised planters that'll hold up really, really well? No bolts, no screws, simple design. After you make the cuts they assemble securely with pieces of rebar.
The interlocking design shown way back …

If our last 4 springs have been focused on clearing brush, this season has been the year of removing big, old trees. March windstorms did a real number on the City of Rochester and its surrounding areas; come to …

First of all, thanks for hanging out with me as I spent the last few months publishing old posts (and especially for bearing through the last few weeks of fall/holiday content... I really tried to force-fit those …

This post was originally published on DIY Network’s blog Made + Remade in October 2012.
I’m setting out this week to try my hand at DIY aerating. Most landscapers and lawn professionals advise it as part …

This post was originally published on DIY Network’s blog Made + Remade in October 2013.
Just when the grass stops growing two inches a week and you think your biggest outdoor project is wrangling all the fallen …

This post was originally published on DIY Network’s blog Made + Remade in September 2013.
Cleaning up fallen leaves doesn’t have to be the off-putting, laborious chore that immediately comes to mind. Let’s talk leaf blowers (and …

This post was originally published on DIY Network’s blog Made + Remade in August 2012.
The initial plan for my DIY flagstone patio called for a custom fire pit using simple pavers, but I abandoned the idea …